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Anniversary. KGH revisited. #TSJ

Janet was at it early this morning working out with Tez doing some standing and walking at the parallel bars. Janet still says it’s difficult but she isn’t quite as emotional about it all as before. She still has not had a BM even with the Peg-Lyte so nurse Jen recommended a trip back to ER and that was suggested by Janet’s GP as well. I had hoped to delay the return until tomorrow in part because today is the one year anniversary of Janet’s aneurysm and the last place I wanted her to be was the hospital. However it was the right thing to do.

Lorne took Janet from Connect to KGH and I met them there, saving me a trip out there and back. Janet was in good spirits and seemed OK with the idea and prepared to wait. The ER wasn’t nearly as busy today so I had high hopes we’d be in and out pretty quick. Last time was five hours, today two and a half. Dr. Eppler saw Janet today and he confirmed that it was good we brought Janet back in but at the same time he wasn’t ready to bring out the dynamite yet. He consulted with Dr. Agnew, the GI, and he recommended a drug that Dr. Eppler had never heard of and the KGH pharmacy didn’t have in stock. He seemed super confident in it though and also ordered Janet to be on a slightly different formulation of the Peg-Lyte she’s been drinking and that should help Janet stay regular once she gets cleared out. He gave Janet a dose of it as we left and she drank it quickly on the way back to Connect. The plan now is to try this new drug along with the new Peg-Lyte and if there’s no result soon Janet will go back to the ER for the dynamite treatment.

It was dinner time when we got to Connect and Janet ate heartily. Not sure where all the food is going but she seems fine. Garrett negotiated a bike ride from Janet afterwards and she performed her best ever. The deal was more than twenty minutes but less than thirty. I went in to see how she was doing and she just eclipsed the twenty five minute mark. I didn’t let her know I was there and she continued until she went over twenty eight minutes. Garrett and I showered her with praise hoping it sinks in that she is improving. The praise continued as Janet took a much needed bio break and produced a very small BM. Something is better than nothing and I credit the long bike ride with moving things along a little.

Janet was quite insistent that the rest of the evening be fun and she elected to lounge while watching basketball in the living room. That was a perfect way to end another busy yet productive day for her.

I thought about a lot of different ways to acknowledge this anniversary. A video timeline or a re posting of key events along the way. A photo montage showing the very obvious progress Janet has made or having her say stuff on camera today. As I thought about it and talked about it with her it became clear that celebrating this day would be inappropriate. Janet still gets very emotional thinking about the past year and even though she doesn’t remember much it still brings tears. I don’t want to generate more tears. I also realized that the anniversary probably means more to those of us who have been alongside Janet during this journey than it does to her. So in that regard I want to thank all of Team Save Janet for your continued prayers, visits, virtual visits, care packages and words of encouragement. Janet and I would not have managed to get this far this well without all of you. Looking back at how much has changed in the last year I have nothing but optomism for what the next year holds. God continues to place the right people in our lives at the right time and through His grace all will be well.